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Official Postgrad

by | Dec 19, 2014 | Personal, Working Woman

As I’m writing this, I’ve officially passed my Graduate Diploma in Information and Library Studies!! Needless to say, I’m absolutely stoked with it all! I’ve now got a bachelor’s degree, a cert 4 and a grad dip under my belt. Also will be starting my Masters in March, so that will be interesting.

It’s been very very quiet at work, to the point where I’m doing work all day which is meant to be for quiet times. It’s a bit disconcerting as the other day in the team meeting, it was brought up that it has been unusually quiet even for this time of year. If this continues in the new year due to a change in process for how some of our work flow is managed, team resources would have to be re-evaluated. It was a bit of a blow as this means that I could well possibly be out of work if things drop off & become too quiet. It was a bit of an awkward moment in the meeting as I had to smile & nod while alarm bells are ringing in my head!

Due to it being super quiet over the last 2 weeks, it’s given me ample time to think about things & which way I’d want to head for my future. Being a goal oriented person, I’ve set some goals to achieve in the short & long term. Short term goal will be to focus on actively applying for positions in both my fields of expertise, given that I’ve now got dual qualifications. I’ve set myself a time frame of between 2 to 3 months to last in my current position as too much free time & lack of meaningful work is making me feel like my brain is decaying again. Something I’ve actively worked to avoid in the past 2 years or so. I do however, feel horrible about this decision as I’ve started in this role part time since September but only started full time since November. In less than 2 months, I’ve given it my all but work isn’t exactly steady & there’s such a lull between busy periods. I’m much more used to being in high pressure situations & being tested. I suppose one thing that made this decision easier is that I’m being paid at a pretty low rate & knowing what my workplace pays my employers for me makes me feel rather used. In talking to other people from the same employer, I’ve found there to be little to no room for negotiations on wages. I don’t think I’m being paid a fair wage & for my skills, I think I’m being ripped off. Also, I am on a casual contract which makes my job very uncertain, not to mention makes me feel like my life is on hold as I can’t do many things with limited money & options. One of the big things for me is not being able to secure a loan as I want to build another place again, our home for when we get married. Which is in fact a long term goal of mine, being able to own another property within 5 to 10 years. I think it’s possible to achieve this & I’m hell bent on doing it.

It’s been a pretty interesting past couple of weeks & it has given me time to really evaluate what I want to do. Am chasing up some leads with things & am really hoping it works out. I’ve also started some baby steps into some things I’ve been working on & it feels pretty good to start chasing my dreams again. I’m looking forward to the next few years to see what it brings, but I’m more so excited about the next few months to see which path I will take next.

New Role At Work

by | Sep 2, 2014 | Working Woman

It has been just over 3 months at my new role and I can say that I was offered another ongoing role just last week. I started the new role today & will do 2 days at my new role, while I do 3 days in my old role till my contract finishes on 19th September. Needless to say it’s been a really exciting day today. I got to learn a whole heap of new things and get to know the records system and workflow. My old role was as an archivist and now I’m a records administrator. I’ve gotten quite a bit further in just over 3 months than I did in 5 years in my old role. Not sure what work saw in me, but this promotion was a real surprise.

 

I’ve always thought that things worked out for a reason and by chance I’ve always fallen into things accidentally and somehow managed to prosper and make my way through things. Not exactly sure why or how, but it seems to have happened with my previous job, I fell into it after uni when my circumstances were pretty dire (I was on a student visa, the GFC just hit, employers weren’t employing people who weren’t PR and I hadn’t gotten my PR so I couldn’t get a job). I was offered a job 2 weeks into my prac & I stayed there for 5 years.

 

I fell into this position quite by accident as well as it was by chance that I saw an e-mail advising of a position available in the CBD as an archivist, starting immediately and full time. I swung by for an informal chat & obtained the job, which I am where I am now. By chance, someone had left within another department & I was offered this position. All this with my employer knowing that I didn’t have the experience or records background, but knew I was studying the Grad Diploma in Info & Library Studies and finishing up this year. From what I’ve heard, as long as I’m willing to learn, I will be fine. I take that stance in everything I do and every job I go into, I’m not going to lie about what I do know, but am upfront and frank about what I know, but make it very clear that I am willing to learn.

 

I am a bit buggered out at the moment, uni is taking up quite a bit of time, but I am 2 units away from my Grad Dip! I’m super excited about that, but not looking forward so much to all the assignments. Am currently immersed in the Harry Potter series again (I am currently reading about the Yule Ball in the Goblet of Fire and laughing my heart out at Ron’s dress robes!) amongst other things to wind down after work and uni. I’ve missed reading heaps. Speaking of library and reading, my new work place has an informal library where we can take and give books out of a mini cupboard labelled ‘Library’. I’m an excited little person right now!